28 June 2001
Prepared text for remarks by Robert J. Chassell
Acceptance of the 2001 USENIX Lifetime Acheivement Award
On behalf of everyone involved in GNU let me give you our thanks. It has
been a long time. 17 years.
First came an editor that developers could use, then came a compiler, a
debugger, a shell. We saw utilities and libraries. These and other tools
worked portably and efficiently on many architectures. GNU Make helped
development. Auto-configuration advanced the art. These were important
programs.
The first GNU kernel, TRIX, died for lack of development. Work on the
second kernel, the Hurd, crept on so slowly you might think it froze.
Finally, and fortunately, the third kernel, Linux, took off, even in spite
of some complaints that the free software BSD projects were better, or
that the Hurd has a cool design.
[ The GNU Project apologizes to anyone who heard these words and thought
that we were claiming credit for the development of Linux itself. Linus
Torvalds wrote that kernel on his own, and the credit for it is not
ours.
The intended point was that finally, a kernel was developed that filled
the remaining gap in GNU and enabled the whole GNU system to run, and
this brought the original goal of GNU--a Free Software Unix-compatible
system--to reality. But we should not have said it with words that
invited another interpretation, and that's why we owe this apology.
-- FSF ]
Indeed, Linux has taken off so well, that people sometimes forget that a
complete system is a GNU/Linux system, and that there is good reason to
remember GNU.
Just as the name of the Unix operating system inspired the name of this
organization, `USENIX', Unix also inspired the name `GNU': GNU is `Not
Unix'.
GNU is `Not Unix' because it does not restrict freedom.
The goal of GNU is freedom:
First, the freedom to study. Not like Unix, where bookstores were
forbidden to sell Lyon's commentary on the code.
You have the freedom to study GNU software.
Second, the freedom to modify. Not like a proprietary, binary-only
distribution, which blocks a programmer from fixing an irritating
bug.
You have the freedom to modify GNU software.
And, third, the freedom to redistribute. Not like AT&T Unix, and other
proprietary companies, that ask institutions to police programmers,
through `license compliance managers', to try to prevent anyone from
making copies for friends and clients.
You have the freedom to redistribute GNU software.
Free software is becoming widespread. It is also under attack.
For example, under current law, private groups can use government power to
forbid you to use programming techniques you already know. This is what
software patents are about.
I hope that our next speaker will tell us how a large company with many
patents will create a defense, both for themselves, and also for our whole
community, of which they are a part.
Many organizations and many companies have helped make GNU/Linux systems
possible today. We thank them for their contribution.
But this award is for every GNU contributor -- everyone who sent in a
patch, a bug report, a document, or a program.
Thank you.